


Advice

by le_paquet_fou



Series: Growing Pains [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: A little angst, Fluff, No Beta We Die Like Clones, Toddler clones, and some slight hurt/comfort, don't worry tho everything ends up okay for rex, he's fine, mostly fluff tho, not too much but we gotta start young
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:21:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24516829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/le_paquet_fou/pseuds/le_paquet_fou
Summary: A sequel to 'The Mutation', about two years afterwards, making these adorable clones two years old (four to us). This is the first really defining moment in Rex's life, even if he can hardly remember it now. It sets up the stage for how he was a cadet (rule following, stick to the regs kind of kid), even if just slightly.
Series: Growing Pains [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2130072
Comments: 5
Kudos: 64
Collections: AOJAOP Universe





	Advice

Sezo understands how different she is from her colleagues and peers; they don’t form attachments to these clones, products for the Republic. She, however, cares for them, something a Kaminoan isn’t supposed to do. She has learned to accept this difference, and use it to help her career rather than hurt it. Perhaps that’s what makes her such a good nurse.

She gently chides the little group of clones running around the room in a game of tag, all of them a whirl of chaos and high pitched shrieks as they collide into one another. They fall in a pile of giggles, the two year olds scrambling to get up and laughing when one pulls them down back into the pile.

The first one to make it out is the little blond boy, a triumphant grin on his lips. Sezo made sure to stay close to him, keep an eye on him should anything go wrong and fix it herself before the doctors could. She knows he does well in the small classes they’ve started to give this batch, and she knows as well that he will only continue to do well, but she worries.

He is disciplined, he will follow orders and is generally well behaved, but she has seen how stubborn he can be. She’s seen him lead his brothers and think in ways a CT unit shouldn’t. He is creative, which is to be expected, but he takes creative liberties in the orders he’s been given if he doesn’t like them. To put it bluntly, he’s too independent for a CT. And that makes Sezo worry every day that he’s with another Kaminoan.

Her worries wash away for the moment as the little clones finally free themselves from the mess they made and start to make a new game. The chatter of their little voices is as soothing as the constant rain on Kamino, soft and innocent and not yet truly grasping what their future is.

She feels a small tinge of pity for these children, already playing games that mimic war without realising that war is all they’ll ever experience. They will be drilled and trained until the only thing they know is combat. These ones won’t even get the privilege of learning strategies outside of ‘listen to command’ and ‘stick together’. CT units are meant to follow orders, not create them.

She pushes the thoughts aside and continues to watch over the children, making sure none of them get injured. She lets them play, but has to step in when one of them, CT-7564, starts pushing around the others. She makes a mental note to keep an eye on this one as well. For the flaws CT-7567 may have, he does have a general sense of loyalty and obedience that CT-7564 does not, and as far as Sezo is aware, it’s her job to have these clones grow up well and become perfect templates for good soldiers. She will make sure she does her job.

*****

Sezo takes CT-7564 aside the next day, kneeling down so she can be closer to eye level with the small boy. She does her best to explain to him that he has to be kind and listen to what his superiors say. She thinks she gets across to him, she thinks she sees recognition in his face. She doesn’t see the annoyance, or the pout he makes as he turns away from her and goes back to his brothers.

It’s not her shift when everything goes wrong. She doesn’t hear the indignant yell about just wanting to do what he wants to do instead of what he’s told to do, or the hushed whispers of his brothers as he’s sedated and taken away. She’s not there to hear the scientists explain that defects must be taken away and dealt with and that this is just standard procedure, nor see the little blond start to pull at his hair as soon as their current caregiver is the only Kaminoan left in the room. She isn’t even there when another brother steps in and takes the place of 7564.

When it is her shift, when she is back, it doesn’t take long for her to realise things are off. There’s an outsider, and the boys are curious, bombarding him with questions. But the little blond is curled in the corner instead of leading the questioning, still tugging at his hair and trying to pull it out strand by strand when trying to yank a fistful out doesn’t work. Sezo walks over to him and kneels by his side, gently pulling his hands from his hair.

“What’s wrong, 7567? Why are you doing this?”

“I’m defective,” comes his reply, his voice small.

“Defective?”

“I’m not like my brothers,” he says, going back to plucking his hair. “They said defects are when you’re different; when you don’t listen or your hair is a different colour. They took 64 away because he had one defect. I have two, so they’ll take me too, right? When are they taking me away?”

“You will not be taken away,” she says as softly as she can. She can see the tears starting to well in the little boy’s eyes, and his determination to not let them fall.

“But I am defective. I don’t know why I haven’t been taken yet.”

“You are a good cadet. You follow orders, you do well on tests, and you are a leader.”

“But I don’t always follow orders. Sometimes they give me a bad feeling, like, I dunno, like it’ll hurt my brothers when it doesn’t have to. And I don’t like that, ‘cause that shouldn’t happen. And I can’t help that my hair is yellow. They won’t let me try and change it. So, I’ll be taken away, won’t I?” Sezo shifts ever so slightly as she carefully considers what to say next. She knows her next words will have the most impact on this boy out of everything she ever has and ever will say to him; she has to make it count.

“They will watch you closely,” she starts, mindful of the blond looking up at her in confusion, “and there is no way to hide hair colour, but you can hide your thoughts. Do not let them know that you think differently, do not let them know that you want to do something else. And never go against orders. Even if you want to, even if you think it’s better, don’t. Then you will be safe.”

“Really?”

“Really.” The blond smiles up at her, shockingly wearily for a two year old, before plastering on an even bigger smile and joining his brothers in interrogating the newcomer, immediately taking over as the leader of the investigation. Curious chatter fills the room with a youthful joy, erasing the serious questions and doubts the blond expressed.

Something tells Sezo that the lesson will stick with the blond. She isn’t sure what it is, perhaps his demeanor as she was talking to him, or his willingness to do well, but she is sure that he will take her advice.


End file.
